Fowl experience of dog attack lingers for Allansford couple

PAV Luke knows the dangers of dogs roaming after three killed her chickens.

The Allansford woman said earlier this year her chickens were in a fenced chicken run when her husband was driving near the Hopkins River bridge and noticed three “aggressive- looking dogs” running around.

Mrs Luke said her husband thought no more of it until he heard a commotion in their garden.

“He went out to check what was going on to find the three dogs in the chicken run that had already killed all four chickens,” she told The Standard yesterday.

Mrs Luke said the dogs had entered the run, which had a fence about two metres high and were trying to bite their way through the wire to escape.

The Warrnambool City Council ranger arrived and two dogs were taken to the pound. Mrs Luke said the third dog had escaped.

“After a few days, I rang the ranger, who informed me one dog had been released to its owner for the paltry sum of $125 but its owner would face pretty hefty fines and we were entitled to compensation,” she said.

Mrs Luke said she was told the owner of the dogs would contact them but it never happened. “I know the ranger has done his job,” she said.

She said she was unsure of the type of dogs but she wanted to speak out after The Standard reported two Staffordshire terriers killed a dog in Warrnambool last month.

“These dogs were roaming around and my concern was what if they had come across children,” Mrs Luke said yesterday.

“We did everything right to keep our chickens safe.”

Last week The Standard reported Warrnambool City Council was investigating an attack on Friday, September 21, to determine if the offending dogs should be declared menacing or dangerous dogs.

The injured dog was seen by a vet but had to be put down. Police and the council’s animal control officers were called to the Warrnambool property and impounded the attacking dogs, which were later released to their respective owners.

Last year the state government cracked down on dangerous breeds after four-year-old Ayen Chol was mauled to death by a neighbour’s pit bull mastiff in Melbourne.

Owners of dangerous, menacing or restricted-breed dogs now face up to 10 years in jail if their pet kills a person.